Each country has its own films dedicated to the Second World War. It is, however, not surprising, because at that time almost all countries were at war, well, were involved in the conflict against their will. Some of the films have become world classics, while others are known only in their homeland about the third, it is better not to remember again. Today we will talk about the third type of film. The film is so wrong that when you watch it over and over again you wonder how it was released and why the actors, quite famous actors, agreed to star in it? What? Oh no. We are not talking about representatives of Russian cinema, where it is not a film about the war, but a holiday. We will talk about the representative of the Italian film industry, which came out in the distant seventies of the last century and bore a proud name - "Saboteurs".
American commandos of Italian descent, in number - it is not known how many human bodies, are sent to Africa, in order to together with the "recalcitrant Zusuls" to give a worthy resistance to the Third Reich and, if lucky, to destroy the entire tank corps of General Rommel. What did you want? Commandos.
It would seem a good seed for history, but the only problem with this film is that it crushes concepts and turns everything upside down. I'll try to explain. It’s no secret that Italy was an ally of Nazi Germany, and unlike the Germans, pasta is not a bad thing. Yeah, it was, but it's different now. In this movie, it’s just that “it’s different.” American saboteurs appear before us as ordinary butchers who quietly shoot unarmed people, even if the latter raise their hands to surrender. They communicate with each other only in an orderly and sometimes even threatening tone. They drink a girl in order to commit various kinds of negligence with her. So what if a woman is a "night butterfly"? She never stops being a human being. In fact, on this and exclusively on this is built the characters of all the heroes on the part of the Americans. However, character is too loud a word. The beginnings of character, to be exact.
On the other hand, we have Germans. Not the Nazis, but the Germans. People who, even after receiving serious wounds, do not retreat and do not give up, doing everything to get the task done. People who can't shoot even the worst enemy in the back. And that dedication sparks interest that looks wrong. No, don't get me wrong. I’ve seen movies where the Germans are portrayed as people like their opponents, such as The White Captivity, The Enemy Below Us and the famous Schindler List. Only in the above films, no one tried to change the concept and show the “allies” as the latest butchers, and the Germans as heroes. On both sides there were both their good guys and complete scoundrels. There is none of this in sight and this creates a sense of wrongness of what is happening. And this feeling only increases when you look into the faces of the actors, hoping to see there fear, joy, anger or despair. You look, but you don't see anything. The faces of the actors remain empty, while they themselves are inert to everything that happens on the screen. Yes, I know that I said that the Germans do feats and all that, but that is the merit / mistake / ridicule of the writer, while the actors themselves do not show much interest in what is happening.
Yes, of course, you can note the pathos musical accompaniment, which plays to the place and not so much, as well as quite good special effects, for those years and at the same time disgustingly staged action, but was it worth it? Even if all this were brought to mind, it would be better if the film did not become. She would have just got a beautiful fantasy, but the filling would still taste like dirt. That is why I strongly advise you to refrain from watching, since there is nothing to catch here.
3 out of 10